# 1972 Oakland Raiders season

The 1972 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 13th season. The Raiders won the AFC West for the second time in three seasons. They lost in the AFC Division Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers 13–7 when Franco Harris scored the game-winning touchdown on the Immaculate Reception. The Raiders still dispute that this was an illegal touchdown.
This was the only season that the Raiders made the playoffs between 1967 and 1977 that the Raiders failed to advance to the AFL or AFC Championship Game.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1972 Oakland Raiders draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 21 | Mike Siani | Wide receiver | Villanova |
| 2 | 33 | Kelvin Korver | Offensive tackle | Northwestern (Iowa) |
| 2 | 43 | John Vella | Offensive tackle | Southern California |
| 3 | 72 | Mel Lunsford | Defensive tackle | Central State (Ohio) |
| 4 | 98 | Cliff Branch * $^†$ | Wide receiver | Colorado |
| 4 | 100 | Dave Dalby * | Center | UCLA |
| 6 | 131 | Dan Medlin | Defensive tackle | North Carolina State |
| 7 | 173 | Ray Jamieson | Running back | Memphis |
| 7 | 176 | Skip Thomas | Defensive back | Southern California |
| 7 | 178 | Dennis Pete | Defensive back | San Francisco State |
| 8 | 202 | Jackie Brown | Running back | Stanford |
| 9 | 228 | Dave Bigler | Running back | Morningside |
| 10 | 254 | Phillip Price | Defensive back | Idaho State |
| 11 | 277 | Joe Carroll | Linebacker | Pittsburgh |
| 12 | 306 | Kent Gaydos | Tight end | Florida State |
| 13 | 333 | Ted Covington | Wide receiver | San Fernando Valley |
| 14 | 358 | Dennis Cambal | Running back | William & Mary |
| 15 | 365 | Charles Hester | Running back | Central State (Ohio) |
| 15 | 384 | Dave Snesrud | Linebacker | Hamline |
| 16 | 410 | Willie Wright | Tight end | North Carolina A&T State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 28–34 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 50,141 |
| 2 | September 24 | at Green Bay Packers | W 20–14 | 1–1 | Lambeau Field | 56,263 |
| 3 | October 1 | San Diego Chargers | T 17–17 | 1–1–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,455 |
| 4 | October 9 | at Houston Oilers | W 34–0 | 2–1–1 | Houston Astrodome | 51,378 |
| 5 | October 15 | Buffalo Bills | W 28–16 | 3–1–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,501 |
| 6 | October 22 | Denver Broncos | L 23–30 | 3–2–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,551 |
| 7 | October 29 | Los Angeles Rams | W 45–17 | 4–2–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,660 |
| 8 | November 5 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 14–27 | 4–3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 82,094 |
| 9 | November 12 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–14 | 5–3–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 59,485 |
| 10 | November 19 | at Denver Broncos | W 37–20 | 6–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 11 | November 26 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 26–3 | 7–3–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,801 |
| 12 | December 3 | at San Diego Chargers | W 21–19 | 8–3–1 | San Diego Stadium | 54,611 |
| 13 | December 11 | New York Jets | W 24–16 | 9–3–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,843 |
| 14 | December 17 | Chicago Bears | W 28–21 | 10–3–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,711 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 28 |
| • Steelers | 14 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 34 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 |
| Packers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Raiders | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 3 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 34 |
| Oilers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| • Raiders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 28 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Broncos | 7 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 30 |
| Raiders | 0 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 23 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| • Raiders | 28 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 45 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| • Chiefs | 0 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 27 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 |
| Bengals | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 7 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 37 |
| Broncos | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 20 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Raiders | 10 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 26 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Chargers | 0 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 19 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| • Raiders | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • Raiders | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 3–2–1 | 7–3–1 | 365 | 248 | W6 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 4–2 | 6–5 | 287 | 254 | W3 |
| Denver Broncos | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 325 | 350 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 2–3–1 | 4–6–1 | 264 | 344 | L3 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | December 23 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 7–13 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 50,350 |

### Game summaries

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Steelers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 |